[18F]PARPi-PET in locally advanced oral cavity carcinoma

Treatment of locally advanced oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) generally includes surgical resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) [1]. Adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is usually required in case of extranodal extension and/or positive surgical margins [1]. In this setting, post-treatment evaluation of loco-regional status becomes difficult to visualize on clinical exam due to tissue distortion from prior surgery and flap reconstruction and RT-related effects on healthy tissues. Follow-up imaging recommendations indicate to repeat pre-treatment baseline imaging within 3 months of adjuvant therapy [1]. Discrimination of treatment injury from recurrent tumor represents still a major clinical need [2–4]. Recently, several reports on human cancers have suggested that positron emission tomography (PET) using fluorine-18 poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase ([18F]PARP) tracer can discern these entities